Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Two days before training camp, and usually I don't post about the Bills because Steve and Coast take care of them. But since they haven't, I am going to run down the important positions on the O and D depth chart and give my feelings on each player, not using ESPN for stats; I'll let Coast tell you what Lynch did in Week 2 on the 4th offensive play of the 2nd quarter.

Offense:QB: Trent Edwards --> I think Trent can be good. His numbers last year weren't anything that stood out but he did show signs of becoming an NFL quarterback. Yes, I know, so did Losman and he lost his job due to injury, yadda yadda yadda. Get over it Losman fans, Trent is the guy this year. I think with the additions of a new OC which will allow Trent to find Lynch in the flats, he should be fine. I don't expect mediocre or greatness, just consistency.

WR #1: Lee Evans --> Put up or shut up time Lee. Everyone in the NFL knows you can run a streak down the sidelines and catch 1 deep ball a game, great. How about going over the middle, or running a wheel route. I haven't seen you run a good route in ages that wasn't a streak. I hope you and Trent worked something out this off season. I think with Hardy on the other side, Lee will be able to run more streaks this season though.

WR #2: James Hardy --> He is 6'6 or 6'7. What ever he is, he is bigger than any defensive player on the field. Toss him a high 12 foot arch ball and let him make a play. If he goes over the middle a few times it will allow Lee to run wild down the side lines and allow our TE's and RB's to break off to the outside. Give him a few weeks of NFL speed and he will adapt just fine. Red zone, go Hardy. Four plays in a row throw him the ball. The guy will have almost a foot on the DB, not even Asanti could make a play on that.

WR #3: Roscoe Parrish --> Let the little guy come in on 3rd down and just run what ever route he wants. He will be the fastest guy on the field, and if you spread Hardy and Evans on the outside and let Fine drag a LB to the outside, Parrish should be able to find a hole somewhere in the middle and take off. I think between him and Josh Reed, our #3 WR is solid.

RB: Marshawn Lynch --> I like Lynch. He runs hard every down. He loves contact, almost a little too much actually. He needs to be more involved in the passing game this season. Turk better have him split out in 5 wide situations to create mismatches somewhere. Lynch will be the catalyst of our offense this year. The Bills will go as far as #23 will take us. Beast Mode! Truck Stick!

Defense:DE: Aaron Schobel --> The guy racks up tackles. No doubt about it. Only problem is most of them are 10 yards down field. Can't blame him for sticking with the play can you? I can, we pay this guy to get sacks and tackles for loses. Sure he gets a sack or two in the 4th quarter of a game that is already over and then selected to a pro bowl, but the Bills need more stops in the backfield on 3rd and 4 in the 1st quarter. I just hope he is ready for a big year, I know I am.

DT: Marcus Stroud --> I don't need to say much here do I? Everyone knows what this guy is capable of doing to an offense. I just hope he stays healthy and away from drugs.

DT: Kyle Williams --> Used to like him until I saw McCargo just own the middle. McCargo needs to be in there on every play, not alternating with Williams and Stroud. Williams is a good spark, and does make some plays, but McCargo is a beast. We traded up to land him because he was the guy that freed up double teams on Mario Williams in college. Give this guy some credit. Last year on a 1st and goal, he had 3 consecutive run stops behind the line of scrimmage, and the next series he was on the bench. Him and Perry need to reconcile any problems they may have so he can play every down.

LB: Crowell, Poz, and Mitchell --> Exciting group. They remind me of the Posey, Spikes, and Fletcher core we had in 2003. (hahaha Coast) Crowell will be better at Strong side this year after a year under his belt. Maybe he would excell more back at Weak side but that is Mitchell's natural position and Perry loves Crowell on the Strong side. Poz, as most of Bills nation knows, is an animal in the middle. If he can stay healthy this whole year, our LB core could be a force. Our 2nd stringers all have experience at the positions due to injuries last year, but come on, lets be honest, they are shrimps compared to real LB's in the NFL.

DB: Ko, Donte, McGee, Greer --> Again, if everyone stays healthy, we will have a nice core. Donte needs to become more of a ball hawk this year. He is a good tackler, but.. more INT's please. Hopefully McGee finally realized putting on weight every year only makes him slower and more of a target. The dude was a pick machine 3 years ago, and ever since then he has been putting on "muscle weight," whatever that means and he gets slower and slower. We all know Greer will have a nice camp, as per usual, lets just hope he can carry camp over to the regular season. Look for Leodis to step in as soon as Greer makes 1 big mistake. We took him too high to just let him play the dime and nickle packages this year. Also it's time for Ashton Youboty to step it up and make some plays.